


Shared Life Experience

by arsenicarcher (Arsenic)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Captivity, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Families of Choice, Hurt/Comfort, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 11:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10741191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsenic/pseuds/arsenicarcher
Summary: When Steve and Winn are both captured by Cadmus, obviously someone is going to have to save the day.





	Shared Life Experience

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tommygirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommygirl/gifts).



> Thanks to my beta, who I will try to remember to reveal after reveals. If I don't, for the love of all things holy, someone remind me.
> 
> Uh, regarding canon. It's kinda "because it works better like this." I ignore large parts of Ultron wholesale, kind of handwave much of CW, and conveniently pretend Mon-El isn't a thing.

Seriously, he has got to stop letting Thor pour the drinks. Steve is pretty sure his brain is going to come out of his eyes if he opens them. He probably should, though, since he seems to be on the floor and the last he remembers, he was…on a run?

The sense of missing time is what jolts Steve's eyes open. Even though there's scant light in the room, he has to swallow back a wave of nausea at the intrusion of it. From somewhere nearby there's a gasp, and a voice Steve doesn't recognize says, "Oh thank you Jesus, you're awake. I—I thought you might have a concussion."

Steve is pretty sure he _does_ have a concussion, which shouldn't be possible, assuming he's been unconscious for more than an hour or so. The serum would have healed that up.

He blinks several times, trying to get the blurring in his vision to clear. When it does, he takes in the man—a kid, really—sitting in front of him, his expression anxious, and one hell of a bruise marring the entirety of the left side of his face. Steve tries to ask where they are, but the words get caught on the dryness off his throat and he coughs.

The other man says, "Oh, yeah, gimme—" and then he's reaching for something, and moving into Steve's space. "There's not a lot, but I saved some for when you woke up."

Steve finally realizes that the guy is holding out a flask of all things. Steve pushes himself onto his side, relentlessly pushes down the desire to vomit, and takes the flask. Thankfully, it has water in it. He swallows what there is, a few sips, nothing more, but enough to allow him to speak. "Where are we?"

The man makes a face and then seems to regret it, wincing. "Not sure. Not in National City, I don't think. Unless there's an HVAC system I can't hear, this is the ambient temperature, and it's too cold for that. We could be in the desert, if it's nighttime. I woke up a few hours ago, but I'm not sure how long I was out. It was night when they—" He stutters, but then shakes himself. "Night when they took me."

"Who's they?" Steve asks. He's still trying to remember anything past being on a run. It had been one of his middle of the night runs. The ones Natasha and Bucky kept telling him he needed to not be doing alone. Natasha's going to kill him as soon as he gets out of this.

"Not sure. I would think Cadmus, only they're more worried about aliens and you're—you're Steve Rogers, right?"

Steve forces himself into a sitting position and breathes through the worst of the dizziness until he can open his eyes again. "You have me at a disadvantage."

The guy blinks and then says, "Oh! Oh, sorry." He holds out his hand. "Winn Schott. I work for—uh, well, I work with people who work with Supergirl."

Steve shakes his hand, thinking. He has only a vague knowledge of Cadmus. He knows Tony keeps tabs on them, mostly because they're that particular brand of crazy that might become an issue for the team some day, but mostly, they've trusted Supergirl and her posse to deal with it. The Avengers can't be everywhere at once, and the Supercousins, as Tony likes to call them, have Metropolis and National City under control.

But if Winn's one of Supergirl's team, then he probably knows the ins and outs of Cadmus. And if they generally are concerned about aliens, then really, Thor's the much better target from their particular cluster of superheroes. Not that Steve wants Thor here. In fact, hopefully Thor is still off-world.

"So probably not Cadmus," Steve finally says.

"Probably, although, with that flavor of crazy, nothing's for sure until it's…for sure."

Steve's in complete agreement with that. The good news is, even if he's only been missing for a few hours, Friday has probably already alerted Tony. Usually Steve isn't crazy about the fact that Tony keeps tabs on all of them every nanosecond he can, accepting it only because he's seen Tony have a panic attack about being unable to find one of them. There were several in the year and change when they couldn't find Bruce. 

Right now, Tony's paranoia seems pretty damn useful. That said, Steve's not going to depend on it alone. He makes a slow scan of the room. The smell and the damp of it suggest that they're underground. There's only one point of egress, a door, so Steve struggles to his feet.

Winn says, "Uh, when I tried it I got fried. Just, y'know, fair warning."

Steve takes it to heart. He glances around until his gaze lands on a tiny pebble. He picks it up and tosses it toward the door. Sure enough, the thing lights up with a crackle-sizzle of pure electricity. Steve considers for a moment and then walks into the electricity field anyway. The voltage isn't enough to toss him back, knock him out, not like it would be for a normal human. Nonetheless, it burns badly enough that between that and the probable concussion, he doesn't have the strength to force the steel door, clearly bolted into a concrete grounding, open.

He staggers back and sinks down to the floor. Winn mutters something under his breath and then says, "If I can find the access point, I can probably rewire it."

Steve laughs a little. Tony wouldn't put the qualifier in, but it's reassuring, knowing he's got a tech guy on his side. He says, "All right, well, plan B. We gotta get these guys to lead us to the access point."

"Maybe when we have some idea of what the hell they want," Winn says.

"Yeah," Steve has to agree. "Maybe then."

*

Kara's deep in the weeds of job listings when her phone rings with Alex's tune. She pokes the answer icon and says, "Mm?"

"Hey, have you heard from Winn?"

Her attention focuses so quickly it almost feels like mental whiplash. "No. I take it he didn't show up to work?"

"No," agrees Alex," which isn't exactly like him, I think we can all agree. I called Lara, but evidently she was working late last night, so they didn't get together. The logs say he left here around seven, which is about normal when we're not in crisis, but after that, nothing."

"He wasn't with James last night?"

"No, um—" there's a stutter to Alex's breath.

Kara rubs at her forehead. "James was at the office last night, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah," is all Alex says.

"Okay." Kara takes a breath. "Okay, I'm gonna fly around, see if I can pick anything up. You…do what you're doing."

"I'll call if I know anything," Alex tells her.

"Yeah," Kara says, already taking off.

*

Steve takes some time to figure out what the hell he knows after Winn finally gives in to exhaustion. Winn thinks he's been in the cell for about ten hours. "Less than a day," he says, sounding fairly confident. "I don't think I was out for a long time. Not enough dehydration."

Steve was a new addition a few hours after that, so he's probably only been here about four or five hours. Friday has probably mentioned something to Tony at this point.

It's a toss-up as to whether Bucky has realized Steve is missing. Bucky's been extremely protective since they were granted pardon and allowed back into the States, but Natasha and he are also relearning each other, and that's taken some of his focus. Steve's glad they've gotten this second chance, so it doesn't bother him, but he's also human, which means he's felt left out now and then. Sam is pretty good at getting Steve out of his own head when the worst of it hits.

Sam would definitely have noticed by now, except that he pressed the point of Wanda needing a vacation and then went with her to make sure she actually spent some time vacationing. He asked if Steve wanted to go. Clearly, Steve should have said yes. He just hadn't been ready to have Bucky out of his sight in what is still only marginally non-hostile territory.

Now he's being held by crazy people, who, if they _are_ Cadmus, probably don't even want him. They probably want Thor, and just took advantage of the fact that they knew how to neutralize the serum and assumed that without it he was the weak link. Steve plans to make a point about that at the first available opportunity but for now, he wishes he'd paid a bit more attention to Cadmus and their particular brand of insanity. 

He knows what Tony has briefed them all on. Luthor-founded and run, Superman cut off one of the heads when he killed Lex Luthor, but evidently his mother was another one just waiting to grow. Until now, they've largely focused on National City and Metropolis, which is Superman and Supergirl's territory. It's not like the Avengers wouldn't help out if asked, or anything like that, but it's always seemed somewhat impolite to suggest they couldn't handle the problem on their own, when clearly they could.

Steve suspects Cadmus was able to get more of a foothold while the Supercousins were lying low in whatever their mundane personalities are, waiting for the dust of the Accords to settle. And now Cadmus wants Thor…maybe. If any of this supposition is correct. It's not that Steve forgets that Thor's an alien, exactly, but yeah, okay, he kind of does. With the Bifrost, and Thor mostly living on Earth these days, it often feels like he's just from a far away country.

Cadmus, if this is them, obviously feels differently.

So, Winn is probably here as bait for Supergirl, and Steve is probably here as bait for Thor. They haven't dosed Steve with anything since he got here, but he's definitely still under the influence, which means the substance is either long-lasting, or being delivered through some type of airborne method. Nobody has interacted with them, which leaves Steve in the dark as to any and all other details. Even the ones he has are mostly just guesswork.

It's cold in the cell. He doesn’t want to sleep, not when he thinks he might be concussed, but the cold is getting to him. Combined with the pain of the concussion and the dark, it's more than a little reminiscent of the times after the crash when he woke, disoriented and injured, but before he had entirely frozen into sleep. He takes a deep breath through his nose and tries a few of the breathing techniques Sam has worked on with him.

It keeps him from throwing himself against the electric barrier repeatedly. That's something.

*

Steve is kind of used to modified humans at this point, what with Bucky having a metal arm, but the guy who comes and tries to pull Winn from their cell is mostly mod, with the suggestion of human underneath. Winn spits, "Henshaw," and Steve makes the assumption that Winn knows this guy, which probably means their captors are, in fact, Cadmus.

Not that it matters. What matters is that whomever Winn works for or with, he's a civilian. Maybe a civilian who can handle himself, maybe not, Steve really doesn't give a shit. Steve's a combatant, and until he's lying unconscious or dead on the floor, if Robot Guy wants to take someone, he's taking Steve.

Steve has a concussion and is feeling nowhere near his most diplomatic, which isn't all that diplomatic to begin with, so he doesn't bother with words, he just gathers up the strength that the natural breadth of his current body and its muscles allows and pulls Winn from Henshaw's grasp. He puts himself in between the two and says, "Hi, how are you?" before punching Henshaw on the human side of his face.

Henshaw, as it turns out, is strong. Super-human strong, so there's probably more than just the robotic upgrades. If Steve were more himself, he could put up a solid fight against it, but he's not, so it's only a minute or so before Henshaw's got him pinned face-front to the wall. Steve bites through his cheek when Henshaw doesn't let up, forcing a spiral fracture of Steve's right arm. He doesn't scream, though, which is as much of a victory as he can really claim at the moment.

Well, that, and Henshaw drags _him_ out of the cell, not Winn. Yeah, Steve is totally winning at this game.

*

Winn's been missing for at least twenty-six hours when Cadmus broadcasts the video of Steve Rogers, whose arm is definitely broken, if they way he's holding it is any indication, and who is sporting some significant gashes and burns over the expanse of his chest. Next to him is Winn, who looks like he's in relatively good shape. Kara is not reassured.

She doesn't pay attention to much of what is said. The gist of it is that they'll trade. Her for Winn, Thor for Rogers.

There's silence on the floor of the DEO for a moment, and then a rising buzz of people making plans. Kara is already considering the angles of giving into their demands when Alex asks, "You have Cat Grant's cell number, right?"

Kara turns to her. "What?"

"I need you to call and see if she has any connection to the Avengers. A phone number for Pepper Potts, an old fling with Tony Stark, whatever, just…see if she knows any of them."

Kara thinks of the way Rogers had looked, back ruler-straight, expression pissed, his muscles tight with pain and fatigue. "Yeah, I'll—"

She walks off and dials Ms. Grant with a DEO phone. To her surprise, the other woman picks up on the second ring. "Who is this?"

"Supergirl, and I'm sorry to interrupt whatever you may be doing, but I was wondering—I—have you seen the video Cadmus released?"

There's a moment of silence and Ms. Grant says, "No, give me a moment."

Kara waits. It's less than five seconds when Ms. Grant gets back on and says, "I'm guessing you're looking for a way to get hold of the Avengers?"

"Yes."

"I know someone who knows someone. I'll give them this number to call."

"Thank you."

"Tell Kara hello for me."

Kara hesitates for a moment and then says, "She misses you. You should tell her yourself."

Ms. Grant's intake of breath would be inaudible to anyone else. She says, "Perhaps I will," and then hangs up.

*

Winn says, "You should let me take a turn."

Steve opens his eyes and looks over at his cell-mate. He's thirsty, but their captors haven't brought water in a while. He's a little uncertain on time at this point. Winn doesn't look great, his skin is pinched, eyes red, but he's basically unharmed. It's calming.

Steve tries to figure out how to explain that keeping Winn safe is pretty much the only thing holding him together. He's cold, it's making it hard to think. "I—no."

"Look, buddy, I realize that normally—"

Steve shakes his head again. "This is what I do. This is—I'm the team leader."

That is not the most accurate explanation, but it will do. Winn sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose and says, "It's gonna fuck with you more if I push this, huh?"

Steve manages a smile and a nod. Winn makes a frustrated noise, but then settles. "Yeah, okay."

*

Kara picks up the phone an hour later with a, "Hello?" and the person on the other end of the line says, "I'm hoping this is actually Supergirl, and I'm not being punked."

"Yes, no, I mean, yes, it's Supergirl. You are—"

"Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye. A friend of yours contacted my partner. I've got myself, Black Widow, and Winter Soldier on our way to National City. Iron Man and Iron Patriot stayed at the compound in case Thor accidentally ends up back earth-side before this is all over. That's probably the first place he'd go."

Right, of course Thor isn't even _on the planet._ Kara takes a deep breath. "I'll have the DEO send you the coordinates. We have a landing pad up top."

"Roger that."

*

The second time they record Steve and Winn, it's not a sanitized moment of the two of them kneeling next to each other, guns pressed to the back of their respective heads. Well, Winn is still in that position. Henshaw has Steve by his broken arm, and there's something that feels like a damn icicle pressed into his back. Someone's done their homework on him, even if it's Thor they really want.

Thor owes him Asgardian ale. So. Much. Fucking. Ale.

Steve's trying to focus on what they're saying to the camera, but the nausea and the headache from the concussion have ratcheted up under the bright lights they're using to film, it feels like Henshaw is trying to rip Steve's arm off, and Winn's looking kind of panicky. Any one of these things could be why it's a surprise when the icicle, or whatever the hell it is, is driven right through him. 

He doesn't scream, but it's a close thing. And he probably owes his restraint more to complete shock than to any approximation of toughness, because the moment the pain and the _cold_ crystallize in his senses, he has to force himself to breathe. 

He loses a little bit of time to working on not panicking. There's a lot of pain, and then, at some point, there's Winn's voice saying, "C'mon big guy, open your eyes, just. Just for a couple of seconds, okay?"

It takes a lot of effort, but Steve forces his eyes to slit. He's on his back. The side they stabbed is opposite the broken arm, which means there's no good way to position him. It occurs to him that there are things he should say. He wants his team. He tries to move the fingers on the hand attached to the broken arm until the pain overcomes his ability to think much.

"Stop," Winn is saying, "Jesus, stop."

Steve has so many things he should be telling Winn, so many messages he should be giving. He's got limited energy, though, so what he goes with is, "They'll find us."

Sure, Steve's not sure he'll make it long enough for that to happen. But he knows with everything in him that it's true.

*

Once the Avengers delegate has landed, they form a plan. Neither Alex nor J'onn likes the plan, as it involves using Kara as bait, but Kara just looks at both of them. She doesn't even have to voice the issue, in the end, because Rogers had an _actual ice pick_ sticking out of him for the last ten seconds of the most recent video, so the time for ideal plans is in the past. Now it's whatever the hell will work.

Alex is particularly on edge, though, so Kara points out, "We've come up with stupider plans on our own and had less back up."

Alex slides her last gun into its holster. "I'm never going to be happy about a plan that involves dangling you in front of Cadmus."

Kara knows. She leans in for a hug and says, "This'll work."

It has to, because Winn looked freaked, and underneath the impressively bland facial expressions of the Avengers, she's pretty sure at least one of them is going to lose it if they don't recover Rogers. "Yeah. It'll work."

*

Steve is decently used to the occupational hazard of occasionally waking up in a hospital bed. You pit yourself against men and machines and whatever else wants to destroy the world, sometimes you're going to get a little banged up. He blinks at Bucky and Natasha, sharing a chair by his bedside, and croaks, "What happened?"

Natasha peels off of Bucky's lap and grabs a cup from the side of the bed. She places it where Steve can put his lips on the straw. The water is blessedly room temperature. While Steve is drinking, Bucky informs him, "You missed Supergirl bridal-carrying you from bumfuck South Dakota to National City. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be lots of pictures."

Steve swallows and pulls back. "She's okay, then? Thor still off-planet? Winn? Is Winn okay?"

Natasha puts the cup back. "Everyone's okay. There were a few sketchy moments with a new kryptonite diffuser they were testing, but it didn't stand up to my Bites, so all's pretty much well that ends well."

"Pretty much?" Steve asks, raising an eyebrow. He glances down at himself. His healing is back in play if the way he feels is any indication. Or it's not, and painkillers are actually working on him. At the moment, he doesn't care.

"She's mad we didn't capture any of Cadmus' leaders," Bucky says.

Steve nods. That's disheartening, no question. "You get anyone?"

"Yeah. They're being held by Supergirl's people. I wanna say downstairs, but they haven't exactly given us a tour." Bucky does his best to look innocent.

"Clint?" Steve asks.

Natasha and Bucky smile. Steve laughs softly. "Where is he?"

"Wandering. Seeing what he can see. And not see." Natasha tilts her head. "Sam got here a little after us, since evidently you getting yourself kidnapped was a good enough reason to cut vacation short. He sent Wanda back to the compound, but took a jet here to see if he could make inroads for us that aren't just 'hey we both needed something at the same time.' Seemed like a good plan."

"Tony and Rhodey?"

"At the compound. We wanted someone there in case Thor showed up. Also, in case we needed technical backup. Pepp's on her way back there from the meeting in Singapore, and Phil's on his way here, since evidently Supergirl's people are government." Natasha looks like she's about to come out of her skin upon admitting that.

"And Phil didn't know?"

Natasha stiffens a little bit and Bucky tugs her back into his lap. She goes without a fight, but it takes him a while to get her to relax into his hold. Finally, Bucky says, "SHIELD's not exactly government these days. I guess? Pepper said she'd send Maria as soon as she got hold of her."

Steve considers that. "This is either going to be the most useful thing to ever happen to us or a gigantic clusterfuck."

The three of them share a look. Steve says, "Yeah, well, a guy a can hope."

Natasha smiles, and Bucky actually chuckles. Steve says, "Yeah."

*

By the time Steve wakes up again, he's feeling recovered and ready to eat a large woodland creature. He looks over at Sam and Clint, who are playing a card game and says, "Food." It's not even a question.

Clint says, "Sure, buddy," and gets up, presumably to go find some. He squeezes Steve's leg on the way out.

Sam says, "I'm making this my wallpaper. On all my devices. And my house."

He holds out his phone to Steve, which, sure enough, has a gorgeously captured photo of Supergirl flying an unconscious, unclothed, Steve Rogers in her arms. "At least she wrapped me in the cape."

"Winn did, actually. Tugged it right off her the minute she kicked in the door to the cell, said, 'oh thank G-d,' and started putting it on you."

Steve nods. "I'll tell him thanks. He around?"

"They kept him for about twelve hours and then let his girlfriend take him home. I imagine he'll be back soon enough."

"Coulson here yet?"

Sam nods. "Couple of hours ago."

"Any progress on the Cadmus prisoner?"

"None that matters." It's Clint who answers, breezing back into the room with a tray that appears to be covered in food. If Steve wasn't entirely certain Coulson would kick his ass, he'd make out with Clint right then and there. Instead, he digs into the eggs and toast.

Once Steve has plowed through most of the tray and drained two glasses of water and a third of orange juice, he says, "What's she like?"

Clint and Sam have gone back to their game. It's a minute before either of them catches on. Then Sam says, "Supergirl?"

Steve pops a grape in his mouth. "Were there other female superheroes rescuing me lately?"

"Yeah, but you know Nat," Clint says without looking up from the game.

Steve crunches into his apple. "Right, so, Supergirl."

Sam looks up and over at him for a long moment. Steve has learned that even if he's uncomfortable, it's best to wait Sam out. Giving in is like purposely bleeding yourself in front of a very polite, hungry shark. Finally, Sam says, "Headstrong."

"That's what you've got for me?"

Sam says, "Well, it's novel, I know, but you could try introducing yourself."

"I could, if someone were nice enough to get me clothes that close in the back," Steve agrees.

Sam snickers. "Such a princess."

*

Kara's just coming up from watching J'onn work on the Cadmus employee when she sees Steve walking down the hall toward her. Someone's gotten him sweats and a DEO t-shirt in his size, but he's barefoot. His hair's a little wet, so he must have just showered. The whole thing makes her heart beat a little quicker than she's entirely comfortable with. In fairness to herself, though, he's Captain America. Surely that allows for an exception to most rules.

"Supergirl," he says, and holds out his hand. "I hear I have you to thank for my current state of comfort."

She shakes her head. "The DEO, maybe. Your team, certainly. I was just the…transportation."

He smiles at that and she finds herself smiling back. She says, "I owe you, anyway. Winn says—"

It's his turn to shake his head, and the motion is sharp, intent. "No. That's what we do. You and I, that's our—if not our calling, then at the very least, our job."

There's a shadow of the loneliness Kara often feels in the statement, an echo of the way the job both keeps her sane and feels inescapable all at once. She tilts her head. "You like coffee?"

Steve nods. She says, "The cafeteria here has a decent cup. If you wanted to—"

"Yeah," Steve says. "Yes. Let's have a cup of coffee."

He says it quietly, and without any particular emphasis. It settles beneath her skin like a good night's sleep, or something else comforting and simple. She starts down the hall, and he falls into step with her.

*

There's a moment of silence when they sit down that Steve interrupts with, "Thanks for saving my life. Help and all. Still, appreciated. The others appreciate it too, if they haven't said."

"Falcon did. Sam. And Barton." She takes a sip. "And Winter Soldier and Widow kind of nodded in the background, so I figured that was the same thing." 

He considers his coffee cup. "You have an actual secret identity. Being wary with affection, not trusting others, it seems like something you'd understand pretty easily."

She screws up her face. "It's one of those emotion versus intellect splits. The identity keeps the family that adopted me safe. It allows me to have a life outside of being Supergirl. It's important because of its _function_ , but I hate that it's necessary. I'd rather not split myself into two in order to allow for one entire me."

Steve thinks about it. About what it would be like to be able to walk down the street without anyone recognizing him. About maybe going to art school or working at a museum or just…doing something that doesn't involve life and death. He can't deny the attraction of it. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense."

"I'm terrible at it, though," she says with a laugh. "Alex has yelled at me a million times for letting the cat out of the bag."

Steve files away the fact that this Alex person—he thinks Sam might have mentioned a DEO agent by that name—knows who Supergirl is when she's not, uh, Supergirl.

He smiles, it's hard not to when she is. "Buck'd probably have to do the same if I had one. A secret identity, I mean."

She takes another long draw of coffee. "It's good, though, that we have them to look out for us."

Steve closes his eyes and forces the simple truth of that not to overwhelm him. "Yeah. Yes. It is."

*

They like the same movies. Kara's not even sure, when she tries to reconstruct the conversation, how they figure this out. They spend a solid hour talking about their favorites, recommending ones to each other that they haven't seen. Winn finds them right when they're each trying to pick a favorite Katherine Hepburn film and slides onto the cafeteria bench next to her.

Her coffee's been empty for a long time, but it's only then that she realizes they must have been talking for…a while. She bumps her shoulder into Winn's. "He has good taste in movies."

Winn smiles a little. "I'll…put that down as another mark in the pro-column for why people like Captain America."

Steve laughs at that. "Not incarcerated is a good look on you."

"Funny, I was going to say something similar." Winn glances at the table and then up again. "Seriously, though. Thanks. Good job on the superheroing, and all that."

"I really just wanted to meet Supergirl," Steve tells him.

Kara laughs. "Good job on that, too."

*

Clint drops from a vent when Steve is heading back to the room he's been given at the DEO for the moment, while Coulson sets up relations between their teams. Steve's pretty sure he could go anywhere he wanted, but joking aside, he's not ready to give up the chance to converse with someone else who has had to rebuild their entire world just yet.

He doesn't even startle at Clint's entrance. Clint says, "Dammit, I'm gonna have to come up with some new tricks."

Steve rolls his eyes. "I'm sure Natasha has a few she could teach you."

"Mm," Clint says. "So, hey, speaking of Nat, she says you were flirting like a third grader with Supergirl."

Steve just manages not to roll his eyes again. "I was having coffee with her. She helped save my life. I said thank you. We had warm beverages."

"Yeah, that all sounds totally reasonable. Except for how Nat's not huge on the exaggerating, and generally not wrong, and Bucky looked concerned that you were going to leave us for a whirlwind romance with one of the few people on this planet who conceivably has some strange shared life experience with you. In a parallel experience sort of way."

Steve can actively feel his healing powers working to clear up the headache that really wants to form. He sticks to the facts. "Bucky does not think I'm leaving the team for anything short of death."

Clint stops walking. "That was not a denial."

"What are you—I'm not switching teams."

"Uh, remind to explain the current metaphorical meaning of that statement at a later date, but for now, no, I meant you didn't deny that you guys might kinda be on a level with each other."

Steve frowns. "Well, that would just be stupid."

Clint is still for a moment. He says softly, "You _were_ flirting with her."

Steve rubs a hand over his face. "We have similar taste in movies."

Clint blinks and then lights up. "Operation: Get Cap Married to Supergirl, coming right up."

"That's not—"

Clint's already back in the damn vents. Steve gives up, he really does.

*

Kara is thrilled that Alex has Maggie, she truly is. For one thing, Kara is all in on people being who they really are. For another, Maggie challenges Alex in a way nobody else does, and it's plainly good for her. Kara does _not_ like, however, that it means Alex has someone to gang up on her with when she has decided to invoke Big Sister privileges.

Which is currently happening over potstickers, with Alex saying, "So, Steve Rogers."

Kara stuffs a potsticker in her mouth and chews with dedication and force. Alex continues in that casual voice that never bodes well. "I mean, it's got to be nice, someone who can sort of keep up with you, who's neither a father figure nor an enemy."

"Not to mention," Maggie jumps in, "who gets that non-traditional families don't mean less than biological ones."

Kara glares at them. She doesn't really have any hope of impeding the roll they seem to be on, but it's worth a shot. The thing is, both of those aspects are important, sure, but it's the way he doesn't seem to expect her to be _human_ that makes her look forward to the next time they run into each other, makes her want to ask if maybe he can stay just a bit longer, even when all the details between their teams are ironed out. 

Alex laughs softly and serves herself some of the lo mein. "No, but, seriously, I—you should go for it."

"He lives across the country," Kara points out.

"You can _fly_ ," Alex says, unimpressed. 

"Yes, but my life is here," Kara says. If that wasn't so true, she'd be in Metropolis at least a bit more. If nothing else, she'd like to at least meet Lois before Kal finally gets up the nerve to pop the question.

Maggie makes a face. Kara looks over at her and she shrugs. "You're Supergirl, right? I mean, if he matters, you could make it work, I think."

She _is_ Supergirl, and he's Captain America, and yeah, okay, maybe Maggie has a point. She opens the second container of potstickers. "I wonder what his thoughts on dumplings are."

*

"What kind of dumplings are we talking about?" Steve asks, blinking. It's not every day that women walk up to him and demand to hear his thoughts on dumplings without so much as a 'hello.' Then again, stranger things have actually happened with Wanda, Natasha, Maria, Pepper _and_ Jane. Come to think of it, he should probably have a tolerance by now. "Like, classic American chicken and dumplings, or gyoza or—"

"My favorites are Chinese potstickers."

"Momo. There's a Nepalese place Sam introduced me too, and now they make me call ahead, because I ate them out of their supply the first time I came."

Her eyes widen. "I've never had those."

Steve opens his mouth, then shuts it. He takes a breath through his nose and lets it out slowly. "I, uh. I don't suppose you'd let me take you on a plain clothes date? Pretty sure Winn or one of my team can find us somewhere. I mean, National City's not exactly a backwater."

She looks to the side and he lets her think. It's no small thing, he imagines, taking off a cape when nobody except maybe a few close friends know who you are underneath it. Softly, she says, "Kara Zor-El was my birth name."

He nods. "That's lovely."

She smiles a little, her eyes distant. "Kara Danvers is what I go by on earth."

Danvers, like Agent Danvers. Oh, Agent Alexandra Danvers. The Alex she mentioned. He files that information away for later. He holds out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Kara. Will you let me introduce you to Nepalese dumplings?"

The strength in her grip is just right. "That…that sounds delicious."

*

Kara lets herself in her front door after the date, her lips still warm from where Steve kissed her good night, chaste and gentlemanly, but not delicately. She hadn't entirely known it was how she wanted to be kissed, but now the knowledge is there, and there's no going back.

She has superhearing, so she's not surprised to find Black Widow and Winter Soldier sitting on her couch, watching the television. She's a little surprised that they're both in civvies and arguing over Joanna Gaines' design choices. The Soldier turns to her and says, "It's strange that you can buy a house in Waco for slightly more than you could buy a mansion in Manhattan in the 30s."

"No," Widow argues, "you can buy some support beams. You need Chip to actually build the house."

"Still. Weird."

Kara takes a step inside. "Uh. Not to be rude, but is there a reason you've broken into my apartment?" She leaves off the "like gigantic creepers," piece of that thought. She'd kind of like Steve's friends not to hate her, creepers or no.

"Mostly it's because we're lacking in social skills," Widow says. "Also, Yasha was freaking out."

The Soldier glares at her. Kara had thought his name was Bucky. She shakes her head. "I—"

"We're not—I don't—" The Soldier breaks off and swears in at least one language Kara doesn't understand, possibly more.

Widow watches him for a long moment. "Honestly, we're killers. If Steve had found someone like either of us to go on a date with, which we both kind of thought he would, this would be easy. We'd give you the shovel talk and everyone'd move on with their lives. But he chose someone like _him_ and that…that is just much more complicated."

Kara walks to her island and deposits her purse there, considering this. "You need some way to make yourselves feel like you're doing right by him without being, uh, super big jerks to me."

The two of them look at each other and have a significant conversation without any movement, facial or otherwise. Finally, the Soldier says, "Yeah, that about sums things up."

Kara tilts her head. "Alternately, I've got an entire season of America's Most Desperate Kitchens DVRed. We could eat the rocky road I've got in my fridge, mainline that, and tell everyone you gave me the shovel talk."

The Soldier looks like he would very much like to take her up on this offer. He says, "Supergirl—"

"Kara," she says. "My name is Kara."

"Kara," he says softly. "I'm—I go by Bucky. And Steve, he's—he's my brother. More. But that's the simplest way to describe it."

"It's nice to meet you, Bucky. I can't promise not to screw this up. But I can tell you that I really, _really_ like him. That he makes me feel like I fit in my skin, like I don't have to be either human or Kryptonian, I can be both or neither, or whatever I want. That I never _want_ to hurt anyone for the most part, except maybe terrible people, and he's…he's the opposite of terrible, and I will do everything in my power to see him not hurt."

It feels as though they all take a few minutes just to breathe that in. Then Widow says, "Were you serious about the rocky road?"

Kara heads to her freezer. "I never joke about ice cream."

*

Steve has just gotten out of a meeting that involved, among other things, Tony on the big screen making inappropriate innuendo—Clint at least had the good grace to look sorry for mentioning Steve had gone on a date—J'onn trying to act like he was dealing with professionals, Thor, once more at the compound, looking like someone had kicked all of the kittens, ever, and Coulson actually managing to get an alliance agreement drawn up by the skin of his teeth, when Agent Danvers sidles up to him in the hall.

Steve says, "Agent Danvers. Sorry about—" Steve makes it a point not to apologize for his team being his team, though, so he ends up going with, "Glad we were able to get that ironed out."

She looks down, smiling. "Trust me, J'onn has Days with us, too."

Steve can hear the capitalization of "days." He offers her a smile. "Was there something I could help you with?"

"Kara."

"I—"

She shakes her head, continuing. "Has she told you anything about us growing up?"

"Little bit." They'd been able to grab breakfast in the mess that morning, and Kara had talked about her cousin and her adopted family.

"They call Superman the Man of Steel. People…they see that in her, too, a girl who's not a girl. Like all of her is made of something that can withstand a bullet. For a while, I was young and silly enough to think that too. Except, the parts that matter, they're not, you know?" Agent Danvers stops walking, turning to him. She taps at her heart, her head. "In here, she's like anyone else. Strong sometimes, a lot of the time, even, but still vulnerable."

"Agent Danvers," Steve starts.

"Alex, unless you want me to keep calling you Captain."

Steve huffs. "Fair enough. Alex, if you're trying to explain to me that your sister is more than the emblem she wears on her chest, believe me, I know."

"I'm trying to tell you that screw Supergirl, I'm entrusting you with my baby sister, and if you fuck that up, I'll find a way to make you watch while I remove your entrails. And J'onn will either help or sit by and provide commentary."

It takes a lot to make Steve afraid, and threats to his person are nowhere near enough to do it. Nonetheless, he assures her, "I believe you."

Quietly, Alex says, "Treat her right," and it's half order, half desperate plea.

Silently, he nods. She watches him for a moment, eyes wide and just a little shiny. Then she nods back, and moves off in the opposite direction from which she came.

*

"If this is a faux pas, you can just tell me, but is there any chance you'd, uh, take me out for a spin? Now that I'm actually conscious, that is." Steve doesn't look at Kara as he asks the question, he can't make himself.

"Flying?" she asks.

"I mean, obviously—"

"No, I mean, I'd love to, it's just, uh. It's kind of easiest if you're in a bridal carry?" She wrinkles her nose in an expression of uncertainty.

Steve breaks into a grin. "Somehow, I think my manhood can withstand it. It evidently did once."

She laughs. "Yeah, well, you were kinda half-dead."

"Probably only a fourth," Steve argues.

Kara rolls her eyes. "Have anywhere in particular you wanted to go?"

Steve shakes his head. "Just…wanna see the earth the way you can."

Without a moment's hesitation, she sweeps him into her arms. "Worth a shot, I guess."

The wind is sharp in Steve's face as they gain altitude, the concrete and summer heat of National City rapidly dwindling, everything fading into miniature. There is nothing but her arms to keep him from falling, from crashing, from the very things that live in his nightmares. He can't remember ever feeling quite so safe.


End file.
